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EvanV · Nov 14, 2003, 07:12 PM

Just got the email today that it has shipped! Whoo hoo! After months of waiting....

Anyways, where is a place that I can get cheap, yet quality RAM for my new PowerBook? I only want a stick of 512.

Tomster · Nov 14, 2003, 07:53 PM

Try www.ramseeker.com or www.dealram.com

I personally recommend www.datamem.com for their service and warrantee.

slider · Nov 14, 2003, 08:09 PM

Hold up. I usally go for the best price on ram that I can find. Beware, it seems that the new PowerBooks are pretty finicky about ram. Not under normal usage some much, but when you put it to sleep or try to wake it up. I currently have ram from 1800memory.com or coast to coast, I always forget, anyways I have had intermittant problems with the computer shuting off instead of going to sleep when I close the lid and when waking up I get freezes. This only happens when I have "Longest Battery Life" checked in the energy system preference. People with the 12" PowerBook seem to have been having really good luck with Crucial, it's only like $25 more than the cheapest stuff out there. I currently have a new stick on order with them, I still have not contacted the other place to try and return my current stick, but like many here, I paid a lot for my PowerBook and I just want it to work like a Mac is suppose. Just had one too many freezes. Good luck.

krux` · Nov 14, 2003, 09:49 PM

Dont get the cheapest ram you can get, thats not a good idea for such a high performance manchine

i got 512mb from www.memorytogo.com - for 129$ it was recommended to me from someone on this forum

Tomster · Nov 14, 2003, 10:06 PM

I would still recommend www.datamem.com I too had issues with a new 15", Panther, and funky ram. DMS exchanged the ram out for me with stuff that worked. No hassles. Another company (OWC) screwed me.

wy4tt · Nov 14, 2003, 10:55 PM

looks like crucial has just lowered their prices on the 512 sticks for our pb's. it's now $125 or so.

kanker · Nov 15, 2003, 01:36 AM

I'd stick with buying from Crucial or Kingston, reputable places, not just "memory stores". I don't quite get the mentality of buying cheap RAM. If you buy a Benz, are you gonna put crappy gas and oil in it? You're talking about dropping cheap junk in a $2-3000 machine. Spend the extra $20-30 bucks and go with a quality outfit. I'm not saying that you'll always get a perfect stick, but I am saying that you are going to get a good stick a much greater percentage of the time -it's called quality control, and your computer, and the roots of your hair that you won't be pulling, will thank you.

docholiday · Nov 15, 2003, 02:21 AM

I know this might has been asked before, but how much of a performance boost would I see if I upgraded the 512MB to

a) 768MB
b) 1GB

I use mainly XCode, Dreamweaver, Word/Notetaking Software, DivX encoding/decoding, and other than that day to day stuff like web browsing and iTunes.

Also, back in the DOS days I used to use RAMDisks and I saw the same thing possible on OS X. How big could I go with around 1GB.

Thanks and sorry for going slightly off topic - didn't wanna start a new thread.

Doc Holiday

nagromme · Nov 15, 2003, 04:09 AM

Others have said that the more RAM the better--the difference will be noticeable. (Mainly in reduced "pauses" due to HD access.) I can't compare 768 to 1 GB, but I can say that more than 512 is a good thing!

Two companies I've bought from that know Macs, have good prices, and have given me reliable RAM: http://transintl.com and http://eshop.macsales.com (aka OWC)